WV Raman, former Indian Women’s coach has claimed that Team India under Virat Kohli is well placed to win the upcoming T20I World Cup 2021. India last won an ICC event way back in 2013 when they beat England to be crowned as the Champions Trophy 2013 winners under talismanic skipper MS Dhoni, the only skipper to win all 3 ICC trophies.

India’s best chance to break that trophy drought this year will come in the form of the ICC T20 World Cup 2021.

WV Raman: Virat Kohli-led India Shouldn’t Be Complacent

With a strong and established mixture of youngsters and seniors in the squad, Virat Kohli has a great opportunity to lead the side to success. However, they need to be wary of complacency while facing the ‘weaker sides’ in the tournament, according to WV Raman.

“It’s not so much pressure as it could be complacency. Complacency may not be the reason every time. But most importantly, if a very powerful and popular side is up against a side that is seen as inexperienced and weak, there is the danger of always being caught unawares by a team of unknown.

“Because, if you have a side where you know about each and every player, the opponents can plan and try and see how they can counter the best players in the opposition side,” the 56-year-old WV Raman said.

The T20 World Cup will be held from October 17 starting with the qualifiers in Oman. Alongside England and West Indies, the Men in Blue go into the tournament as firm favorites. But the nature of the format doesn’t guarantee anything, as stated by WV Raman.

Taking the example of tennis legend Novak Djokovic, WV Raman said: “T20 is a format where no one is sure what would happen. Everything can change in just one over. That is the beauty of sport. You look at World No. 1 Djokovic, who could not win the bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics He was in great form in tennis this year.”

“This happens in top-level sport. Generally, we cannot predict what happens in cricket, and more so in T20 cricket. Who wins, whether Kohli wins, it is different. If you look at his captaincy record, he has a very good success record. India is well placed to win the T20 World Cup,” WV Raman said.

The World Cup will be held right after the completion of the 2nd phase of the IPL 2021. Both the mega-events are set to take place in the United Arab Emirates in the September-November window.

West Indies Are The Defending Champions Of T20I World Cup

T20 World Cup 2021 is set to start from October 17 in the UAE, with the final for the 16-team tournament scheduled for November 14. T20 World Cup 2021 will start a few days after the IPL final, which is likely to be held on October 15. The remainder of IPL 2021 will also be played in the UAE, starting September 19.

According to the current plan, the first round of the T20 World Cup 2021 will be split across two groups and played in the UAE and Oman. Round 1, which will include 12 matches, will comprise eight teams from which four (top two from each group) would qualify for the Super 12s.

Four teams from this lot of eight – Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Netherlands, Scotland, Namibia, Oman, Papua New Guinea – will then progress to the Super 12s, joining the top eight ranked T20I teams. The Super 12s phase, which will comprise 30 matches, is scheduled to start from October 24.

The Super 12s, where teams will be split across two groups of six each, will be played at three venues in the UAE – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah which will be followed by three playoff games – the two semi-finals and the final.

The T20 World Cup which was scheduled to be held in Australia from October 18, 2020, was postponed in July due to the COVID-19 pandemic, making way for the cash-rich IPL 2020 in the United Arab Emirates. The T20 World Cup in 2021 will be the seventh edition of the tournament and the first since 2016.

West Indies, the defending champions of the T20I World Cup in 2016, is the favourite and frontrunner to win again with consistent big-hitting performers like Evin Lewis, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell in the team.